Method of making rails for model railways



Aug. 22, 1944. D, E. PRIEST 2,356,695

METHOD OF MAKING RAILS FOR MODEL RAILWAYS FiledJan.I 11, 1940 4-Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 22, 1944. D. E. PRIEST 2,355,695

. METHOD OF'MAKING RAILS FOR MODEL RAILwAYs Filed Jan. l1, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 lg- 22 1944- x cla. E. PRIEST n 2,356,695

METHOD MAKING RAILS FOR MODEL RAILWAYS Filed Jan. 11, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 MM nuI /Ji y Illpu y 1 Zwaan/'- f DW/2f Resi Aug- 22, 1944. D.-E. PRlsT 2,356,695 vMETHOD 0F MAKING RALs FOR MODEL RAILwAYs Filed Jan. 11, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 MFH?.

Patented Aug. 22, 1944 -1 .1,

UNITED STAT f OFFICE l' Dwight E. Priestgworcester, Mass., assignor` to Parker Manufacturin of Massachusetts g Com-pany, aV corporation f Application January 11, 194D, Serial No. V313,426 (c1. 2in-"fn 4 Claims.

The present invention relates to a method of manufacture for miniature rails such as are supplied for use in the erection and operation of scale or model railway installations.

My invention deals primarily with the manufacture of rail material for the accurately-dimentioned small-scale railway systems of the type which lare of interest to adult experts and modelbuilders, rather than to systems of the toy type,Y

using hollow-section tin-plate rails that are marketed for juvenile use.

In the former or scale type of construction, where great emphasis is laid on exact scale reproduction of the actual trackage road-bed, and rolling stock of conventional railroad equipment, the rails, in simulation of actual conditions, are invariably of solid cross-section, being fabricated from brass, steel, or the like, to approximate, say on a scale of 1 to 40, the characteristic crosssection of a conventional railroad, i. e., a vertical web connecting the rails upper or traction surfaces with the wide flanged-out base portion that rests on the wooden cross-ties. Heretofore, it has generally been the practice to fabricate the rail material for such model or exact-scale railroads by a wire-drawing process, using a specially-shaped die for the conversion of round rod or wire stock, preferably of brass or steel, into a product which emerges from said die with .la cross-section approximating, within the limits of the die, that of a conventional or full size railroad rail.

However, model or small scale rail material produced in this fashion (i. e., by wire drawing) is only a very rough and inaccurate reproduction of the conventional rail section, and is by no means accurate enough to satisfy the demands of the experts and model builders for an exact scale material. The reason for this is that it is practically impossible, by wire drawing, to obtain a rail having the connecting web of a substantially uniform thickness which is characteristic of full-sized railroad rails; invariably, in the small-scale rail material, this vertical connecting web, instead of being of the slender parallel-sided section that appears in the full-size rail, is of a relatively squat trapezoidal section, widening out appreciably from top to bottom.

Moreover, standard road-bed construction utilizes wear plates between the rails and the wooden cross-ties to increase the bearing sur- .face resting on the tie and to prevent chang.

the tedious and difficult task of fastening these small scale rails, and separate wear plates, to the cross-ties by small pins corresponding to conventional rail spikes.' l

By my invention, involving a radically different method of vmanufacture of rail material for model or small scale railroads, I obtain, as hereinafter more particularly described, rail lengths which in cross-section are almost exactly to scale, said section substantially duplicating the slender straight-sided connecting web of the fullsized commercial railroad rails. Also, in my improved exact scale product may be incorporated, as integral projections from the base flange, convenient means for connecting said exact-scale rail lengths to the cross-ties of the model roadbed, thus relieving the model-maker of much of the drudgery that has heretofore been involved through the necessity of spiking down the wiredrawn rail material to each cross-tie. The rail length may also incorporate, as an integral part thereof, projecting elements which, when the rail is in place on a road-bled, correspond in position and shape to the projecting ends of wear plates beneath the rail, and which may also have small protuberances representing spike heads.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will belmade apparent by the following detailed description thereof, taken in connection withv the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a sectional view on a large scale of la rail for model or scale railroads embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of the rail of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view ofthe rail of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the dies employed in the production of rails of the type shown.

Fig. 5 is a perspective View of the cooperating die element.

Fig. 6 is a sectional View showing the dies in assembled relation preparatory to being pressed together for forming the rail.

Fig. '7 is a plan view of a rail bed construction embodying the invention.

Fig 8 is a sectional view along line 8-8 of Fig. 9. f

Fig. 9 is a sectional view along the line 9-9 of Fig. 7.

With reference rst to Figs. 7 to 9 inclusive, the miniature or scale rail l made in accordance with the present invention corresponds almost exactly Stantially in a point.

in proportion to the standard full size railroad rail and is mounted on cross-ties 2 on the base 3. Each rail, shown on a larger scale in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, has the traction portion la, the vertical web I'b supporting the traction portion, and the base portion Ic. By the hereinafter described process and apparatus the proportions of this rail are made to correspond exactly to the proportions of a full size rail. It is apparently impossible to obtain, by drawing or by otherwise altering the cross-section or a wire by a lengthwise process, a satisfactory cross-section of a model rail which will closely approximate in scale the full size rail. By the present invention the rail is formed in sections proportioned in length to a standard rail by a lateral extrusion or ow of the metal rod or wire into a mold cavity Whose cross-section is exactly scaled to that of a commercial rail.

In addition, as is well known, the commercial rail, instead of resting directly on the cross-ties, rests upon wear plates positioned beneath the rail and held to the tie by the same spikes that hold the rail in position. In accordance with the present invention, these wear plates l are formed integrally with the rail and at the same time protuberances 5, corresponding in shape and dimension to the heads of rail spikes, are formed in the proper position overlying the outer edges of the base portion lc of the rail.

For fastening the model rail to the model crossties 2 the rail has centrally positioned downwardly projecting spikes 6 which are ventirely hidden when the rail is in position on the ties and which save the model maker from the necessity of fastening the rail and wear plates to the ties by special minute preformed pins which obviously could not closely approximate the shape of the standard rail spike.

The model rail is produced in lengths which are so proportioned to the other dimensions of the original rails as to correspond to the standard railroad rail. Thus, where the scale model is approximately 1,.,/10 the full size, the rail lengths are approximately a foot long, thereby corresponding to the conventional thirty nine foot rail.

With reference now to Figs. 4 and 5, in which are illustrated fragmentary portions of the .dies by which the model rail sections are produced, the cooperating die sections B1 and B2, Fig. 4, form together a massive die block B. The opposed surfaces of these die sections are formed to define between them an elongated recess lll, which corresponds exactly in dimension to the scale size of the rail to be produced. Thus this recess has a portion Illa corresponding to the traction portion of the rail, a portion' lb correspending to the web and an open section Ille which corresponds in dimension to the base portion of the rail. i Laterally extending side recesses p Illd are equal in dimension to the ends of the Wear plates and small intercommunicating recesses lc `correspond in shape to the miniature spike-heads incorporated in the rail.

Cooperating with the die B is the opposed die C having on its face an elongated groove or recess Ila to 'form the bottom side of the base portion of the rail and interconnecting cross grooves IIb which define the bottom portions of the wear plates Il. Centrally of each of the recesses or cross grooves lib is a bore i3 terminating sub- This bore is adapted to form the pins S on the model rail.

The dies are adapted to it together, as shown in Fig. 6, the die C being inverted from the position shown in Fig. 5, and, with a suitable extremely high pressure forcing the dies together a piece of wire W, preferably, but not necessarily, circular in cross-section, is forced into the shape of the recesses in the dies and thus into the form of the rail section of Fig. 1.

The extrusion or working of the material of the Wire as the dies are forced together tends to harden the resultant rail. Thus, these model rails, when in use, can withstand a considerable amount of wear and strain without injury.

Referring now to Figs. "I to 9, the rails are secured by the pins 6 to the small miniature crossties 2 which are held in spaced relation to each other on the supporting base 3. The latter has spaced rows of projecting tongues i6 and l1 which are struck up therefrom and are spaced apart to correspond to the desired spacing of the crossties 2. Assemblage of the base and ties is thus made comparatively simple and involves merely mounting of the ties successively on opposed pins in the opposite rows i6 and I'l.

The base 3 is preferably shaped so that it has a central elevated section 3a and projecting edge flanges 3b on which the base rests. The upper surface of this base maybe covered with a suitable material to simulate the crushed rock or other material used for road beds, as will be apparent By the present invention it is possible to provide for very quick and easy assembly of the cross-ties to the supporting base with the locating means on the base assuring a proper spacing of the cross-ties. The rails may then be mounted on the cross-ties by the projecting pins which are integral with the miniature rails, and the wear plates which are formed as an integral part of the rails need not be separately attached. Not lonly does this make the scale model rail a close reproduction of the original railroad rail, but by the formation of protuberances on the rail to correspond to the heads of the spikes and by the inclusion of wear plates, the completed assembled trackage is even more nearly an exact copy of the original trackage in appearance.

I claim:

l. In the manufacture of lengths of rail for model railroads, the improvement which consists in subjecting an elongated metal rod, corresponding substantially in length to the desired piece of rail, to an extrusion throughout its length which is wholly lateral in relation to said rods longitudinal axis, for the formation of Aa rail length whose cross section is accurately scaled to that of commercial rails, and simultaneously extruding the rod material to form integral projecting elements on the base of the rail to represent the projecting ends of wear plates. i

2. In the manufacture of lengths of rail for model railroads, the improvement which consists in subjecting an elongated metal rod, corresponding substantially in length to the desired piece of rail, to an extrusion throughout its length which is wholly lateral in relation to said `rods longitudinal axis, for the formation of a rail length whose cross section is accurately scaled to that .of commercial rails, and simultaneously extruding the rod materiall to form projecting pins on the under side of the rail, by which the latter is attached to cross-ties.

3. In the manufacture of lengths of rail for model railroads, the improvement which consists in subjecting an elongated metal rod, corresponding substantially in length to the desired piece of rail, to an extrusion throughout its length which isV Wholly lateral in relation to said rods longitudinal axis, for the formation of a rail length whose cross section is accurately scaled to that of a commercial rail, and simultaneously eXtruding the rod material at spaced points to' form integrally projecting elements on the base of the rail to represent the projecting ends of wear plates and to form projecting pins on the underside of the rail by which the latter is attached to miniature cross ties.

4. The method of producing a length of rail for scale model railways, which comprises interposing an elongated metal bar or rod, substantially of the length of the desired piece of rail, between a plunger and a die, the latter having a cavity defining in its lower portions the web and traction portions of the rail, and in its upper portion cooperating with said plunger to define the rail base, and subjecting said bar or rod throughout its length, by relative motion between said plunger and said die, to cavity-lling extrusions which, with reference to said rods longitudinal axis, are wholly laterial in direction, for the formation of a rail length whose base, web and traction portions are accurately scaled, cross-sectionally, to the corresponding portions of a commercial rail.

DWIGHT E. PRIEST. 

